CONQUEST OF THE UNIVERSE OR WHEN QUEENS COLLIDE Written by Charles Ludlam Directed by Everett Quinton Ellen Stewart Theatre 66 East 4th Street, NYC, 10003 November 2-19, 2017
CONQUEST OF THE UNIVERSE OR WHEN QUEENS COLLIDE Written by Charles Ludlam Directed by Everett Quinton He s The Conqueror Composed by Peter Golub Arrangement of Original Music by Sean Carmichael Costume Design by Ramona Ponce Set Design by Robert Savina Lighting Design by Christopher Weston Sound Design by Tim Schellenbaum Props Design by Cricket Epstein Stage Manager: Karen Oughtred Assistant Stage Manager: Jillian A. Goldstein Assistant Costume Designer: Elaine Bledsoe Production Assistants: Luisa Alarcón, Peter Gawelko, Michael Zarra Video Projections: Jerry Marsini Carpenter: Alex McCarron Set Decorator: Kevin Fernandez
DRAMATIS PERSONAE (In order of appearance) TAMBERLAINE, President of Earth Grant Neale * BAJAZETH, King of Mars Lenys Samá ALICE, First Lady of Earth Brian Belovitch * ZABINA, Queen of Mars Everett Quinton * EBEA, her maid Jeanne Lauren Smith FIREWOMEN Géraldine Dulex *, John Gutierrez, eugene the poogene, Jillian A. Goldstein Tamberlaine s men: TECHELLUS Shane Baker * USUMCASANE Sommer Carbuccia VENUS, Queen of Venus Géraldine Dulex * CONSUELA, her maid Sommer Carbuccia COSROE, brother of Zabina, a Martian prince Everett Quinton * MAGNAVOX, King of Mercury eugene the poogene ORTYGIUS, Caliph of Jupiter John Gutierrez NATOLIA, Queen of Saturn Beth Dodye Bass * WITCH OF ENSOR Sommer Carbuccia WAR Sommer Carbuccia HUNGER John Gutierrez PESTILENCE eugene the poogene WOMAN IN A CELL Beth Dodye Bass * GRAVEDIGGER Shane Baker * NEWSBOY, BALLERINA OF URANUS John Gutierrez * Actors appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association Equity approved Showcase. Actors Equity Association ( Equity ), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. #EquityWorks
SHANE BAKER (TECHELLUS, GRAVEDIGGER) has appeared with New Yiddish Rep as Vladimir in his own Yiddish translation of Samuel Beckett s Waiting for Godot for its Yiddish world premiere Off-Broadway and tours to Enniskillen, Northern Ireland and Paris, France; and as Yankl in God of Vengeance. In English he s best known for various incarnations of Jeff Weiss s And That s How The Rent Gets Paid. He s pleased as Punch to help celebrate 50 years of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company! BETH DODYE BASS (NATOLIA, WOMAN IN A CELL) is a member of the following companies: This is Not A Theatre Company, The New Stage Theatre Company, The Yorick Theatre Company and The Ridiculous Theatrical Company. Her theatrical credits include: Subway Series L Train (Ethel), Electronic City, Night, Cosmic Comics (multiple characters), The Winter s Tale (multiple characters), A Midsummer Night s Dream, Carmen, Just Call Me Sarah Bernhardt (multiple characters). Dodye s career includes appearances in film, television, and national commercials. BRIAN BELOVITCH (ALICE) has appeared on various New York stages for more than three decades. He s a 2000 GLAAD award nominee for his Off Broadway autobiographical play: Boys Don t Wear Lipstick. Brian s Ridiculous debut was as Lamia, the Leopard Woman in Bluebeard and he s thrilled to be back on stage at La MaMa. Film: The Irishman, Nor easter, Q&A. TV: The Deuce, Homeland, The Americans. Brian s highly anticipated memoir Trans Figured: My Journey from Boy to Girl to Woman to Man published by Skyhorse arrives in Fall 2018. @bbelov, Instagram BB1186 SOMMER CARBUCCIA (USUMCASANE, CONSUELA, WITCH OF ENSOR, WAR) is excited to be a part of this production with so many wonderful actors! A graduate of NYU Tisch, Sommer is making his La MaMa debut. He has previously been in A Midsummer Nights Dream with New York Classical, various readings with The Public, The Civilians, and TBTB, and is in the upcoming festival film Juvenile. He d like to thank Everett as well as his mami, papi, y toda su familia. Live, love, lake. www.sommercarbuccia.com GÉRALDINE DULEX (VENUS, FIREWOMAN) performed in various readings with Ridiculous Theatrical Co. She played the principal speaking role in the critically-acclaimed opera The Passenger in Chicago, Miami and Detroit. Theater credits include: Dead Man s Cell Phone (Steppenwolf), Cosmicomics (New Stage), and the female leads in Barker s Minna (Trap Door) and Emilio Williams Tables and Beds (Chicago Sweatshop). She is a company member of NYC s award winning Broken Box Mime Theater. B.S. Northwestern University. Thank you Everett!! www.geraldinedulex.com
EUGENE THE POOGENE (MAGNAVOX, FIREWOMAN, PESTILENCE) was an astronaut before he was a performer and was instrumental in the setting up of space station STS-111 (along with other members of Expedition Three), now famous for their work on the Biomass Production System. In his spare time, he likes to sit in the dark and repeat the word larvae. eugene the poogene loves ellen stewart, all of his beautiful friends, family, directors, teachers so much it s nauseating... thanks to everett and everyone who spent energies on this production thereby directly contributing to my elation... JOHN GUTIERREZ (ORTYGIUS, FIREWOMAN, HUNGER, NEWSBOY, BALLERINA OF URANUS) is a multidisciplinary actor, dancer, creator, originally from Washington Heights, NY. He is ecstatic to join the cast of Conquest, he s always been Ridiculous, now it s official! Since graduating from NYU Tisch s Experimental Theater Wing John has performed with Big Dance Theater, Full Circle Souljahs, Jeanette Stoner and Dancers, and Martha Tornay/East Village Dance Project at venues such as BAM, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Danspace, Dance Place and La MaMa. His personal work has also been presented at The Rubin Museum, Dixon Place, TADA! Theater, La MaMa and Theater for The New City. John is a proud member of the feath3r theory, and La MaMa s Great Jones Repertory Company, and is currently a student at the Terry Knickerbocker Acting Studio. GRANT NEALE (TAMBERLAINE) joined the Ridiculous Theatrical Company in 1992 with Georg Osterman s Brother Truckers Charles Ludlam Theater (NYC and in London and Edinburgh). Also a resident actor with the Jean Cocteau Rep. He recently appeared as Hemingway in Edward Einhorn s critically acclaimed Marriage of Alice B Toklas..., Other favorite roles are Leontes The Winter s Tale (Milwaukee Shakespeare), Johnny Frankie and Johnny In the Clair de Lune (Shaker Bridge Theater), Ceausescu Waxing West (La MaMa), Roman Polanski in Saviana Stanescu s Polanski Polanski (NYC, Bucharest), Fool in Randy Neale s The Fool s Lear (Phoenix and PURE), and Frosch in Die Fledermaus (San Francisco, Seattle and Dallas Opera), Father Joe in the Christian La Morte film Bless Me (award recipient). Founding Artistic Director of Nomad Theatrical Company. Proud member AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and AGMA. LENYS SAMÁ (BAJAZETH) first appeared in the 1993 production of Charles Ludlam s How To Write A Play as General Carragua Fanfarron directed by Everett Quinton. He found a theatrical home in The Ridiculous Theatrical Company and appeared in several productions including: Corn, Everett Quinton s adaption of Carmen, Midsummer Night s Dream, and Mr. Quinton s
Call Me Sarah Bernhardt. He has also done readings of Der Ring Gott Farblonjet, Bluebeard (La MaMa), and Galas with Everett. Recently Lenys had a reading of his solo show Fantasy Americana, which he began creating at GO-SOLO workshops and will continue to develop at The Barrow Group. JEANNE LAUREN SMITH (EBEA) is over the moon to be making her Ridiculous debut in Conquest with the inimitable Everett Quinton at the helm. Recent credits include StellaMaris (Tapestry Collective), D4rkly Your Retrorockets Fl4re (PCTF Outstanding Actress nomination), Rules (dir. Ildiko Nemeth, NYIT Outstanding Performance Art Production nomination) and A Rage in Tenure (dir. Dorothy Lyman). Love to Dominic. For updates please visit Jeannelaurensmith.com. EVERETT QUINTON (Director, Zabina, Cosroe) is an actor and director who recently directed Charles Ludlam s The Artificial Jungle with Theater Breaking Through Barriers as part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the work of THE RIDICULOUS THEATRICAL COMPANY. Everett also directed and appeared as Paulina and Autolycus in The Winter s Tale. He recently appeared as Enobarbus and one of five Cleopatras in Antony and Cleopatra directed by David Kaplan. Everett can also be seen in Vincent Gagliostro s film After Louie starring Alan Cumming. RAMONA PONCE (Costume Design) nominated for both the Innovative Theater and Henry Hewes Design awards, has spent the last 25 years costuming downtown theater, film and opera. In addition to costume work, she does specialty needlework for fashion designers and fine artists, and styles visual elements for a variety of applications. Her artwork has been displayed at galleries in New York and Arizona. She designs special occasion wear for women and men. www.ramonaponce.com ROBERT SAVINA (Set Design) has worked as a production designer for feature film and television. Film projects include: Christmas Hours and Santa Con for Lifetime. The Neighborhood, Video Girl, Burning Blue, Blowtorch, Fall To Rise, The Rig, Dark Circles, and My Alien Mother. He was Artistic Director of Acadia Annex Theater Company in Maine where he directed Michael Dorn Moody s The Shortchanged Review, The Fool, and SPILL. Savina facilitated choreographer Liz Lerman s Hallelujah Project, that originated in Eastport, Maine for the millennium, Sarah Pearson & Patrik Widrig s If Wishes Were Horses at the Portland Museum of Art, Mark Dendy s site specific performance, A Midsummer Night s Dream in Sagaponack, NY. Production Coordinator at Bates Dance Festival and The Adirondack Theater Festival. His produced plays include, Four Brothers, Wheels Over Indian Trails and Whiskeyville.
CHRISTOPHER WESTON (Light Design) In NYC, his work has been seen at the Signature, Kitchen, Alvin Ailey, 59E59, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Cherry Lane, St. Clement s, the Kitchen, 3LD, Abingdon, Barrow Group, Dixon Place, HERE and many more. Regional theatres include the Hangar Theatre, Penguin Rep, NJ Rep, Actors Shakespeare Company. Internationally, his work was seen at the European Biennial in Athens, Greece. He is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Theatre at LaGuardia Community College and a Teaching Artist for Roundabout Theatre Company. TIM SCHELLENBAUM (Sound Design) is a sound designer and composer currently in residency at La MaMa. He is the recipient of 1998 and 2000 Obie Awards for collaborative design and has worked extensively with Ridge Theatre, Target Margin, Talking Band, Theodora Skipatares, John Kelly, Teatro Patalogico (Rome), and many others in the US and Europe. CRICKET EPSTEIN (Props Design) graduated from Oberlin College in 2015, where she studied Gender and Art History. After two post-graduate years on the West Coast dabbling in taxidermy, she relocated back to her home in the Big Apple. Between freelance jobs, she spends her time rubbing her wings together in hopes of communicating with her distant insect relatives. This is her second production. KAREN OUGHTRED (Stage Manager) is a multidisciplinary theater artist, teacher and production stage manager. Stage Management includes: La MaMa, The New School, BAM, HERE, The Public, PS122, Soho Rep, Town Hall, Ohio Theater, 3LD and the National Museum of the American Indian. She co-created The Memory Project, storytelling through visual arts, theater & puppetry with Spica Wobbe, where they conduct workshops at senior centers. She is thrilled to be working with Everett and his delightful band. www.facebook.com/thememoryproject.storytelling/ JILLIAN A. GOLDSTEIN (Assistant Stage Manager, Firewoman, Ghost of Zabina) is a New York interdisciplinary theater artist based in New York. Directing credits include productions with LoftOpera, Brunch Theater, and Exquisite Corpse Company. AD credits include productions with MCC Theater, The Lynn Redgrave Theater, and The Schimmel Center for the Arts. She is an alum of Pace University School of Performing Arts. More info: JillianAGoldstein.com
LUISA ALARCÓN (Production Assistant) was born and raised in Colombia, worked at El Grillote theatre and the Enrique Buenaventura Municipal Theater in Cali. Part of her training has been at Odin Theatre in Denmark, and at Grotowski Institute in Poland. Latest acting works includes Privatopia at the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary & Experimental Theatre in Egypt. In New York Lonely Leela, Rose Love Pepe, Women of New York and Are you now or have you ever been? MICHAEL ZARRA (Production Assistant) is a junior at Trinity College studying Neuroscience on a pre-med track. This semester he is pursuing an exploration of performance art with the Trinity/La MaMa Program. In learning about the creative process, Michael hopes to inform his future research and performance by viewing medicine through an interdisciplinary lens. He has already studied The Mind as Music, in aim of improving schizophrenia diagnosis accuracy, and hopes to engage healthcare with art throughout his career. Acknowledgements CONQUEST OF THE UNIVERSE OR WHEN QUEENS COLLIDE would like to thank: Kevin Dalton, Ari Espinoza, HIRISE, High Resolution Science Imaging Experiment https://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/, NASA, istock by Getty Images, Storyblocks-Royalty Free Images, Lauren Crawford, Tommy Terpening, and William Farmer. LaGuardia Community College, Materials For The Arts. Rachel and Gerald Epstein and Patrick Moore. Mia Yoo, Mary Fulham, Beverly Petty, Amy Surratt, Denise Greber, Mark Tambella, Juan Merchan, Jack Reynolds, Sarah Murphy, Yukio Tsuji, Theo Cote, John Issendorf, Ryan Leach, Melissa Slattery, Kiku Sakai, Michael Arian, David Bonilla, Hao Bai, Michael Greber, and all the La MaMa staff.
La MaMa Staff Isidoro Albino 47 Great Jones Superintendent Alice Griffin Archive Metadata/Digitization Asst. Beverly Petty Producing Director Michael Arian 47 Great Jones Reception Armando Arias Building Superintendent Hao Bai Technician Maya Bitan Intern William Electric Black Poetry Electric Director David Bonilla Technician Marc Bovino Graphic Design Theo Cote Photographer/Videographer Jake Denney Development Associate David Diamond La MaMa Umbria Coordinator Kaori Fujiyabu Associate Director of Development Mary Fulham Managing Director Sara Galassini La Galleria Staff Michal Gamily Coffeehouse Chronicles Director Piotr Gawelko Carpenter Merry Geng 47 Great Jones Reception Michael Grant Archive Cataloger Denise Greber Puppet Series Director, Marketing Manager, International Relations Michael Greber House Manager/Box Office Yael Haskal Intern Jennifer Holm Front of House Laura Indick Development Associate Joyce M. Isabelle, CFRE Development Director John Issendorf Director Of Audience Development Ryan Leach Social Media Marketing Associate Ingrid Lederman Front of House Andrés López-Alicea Front of House Jun Maeda Resident Set Designer Doug Major Box Office Kenneth Martin Operations Rachel Mattson Archive Project Manager Juan Merchan Lighting Supervisor Valois Mickens House Manager Sarah Murphy Technician Matt Nasser La Galleria Director Experiments Reading Series Coordinator Palante Technology Cooperative IT Support Nicky Paraiso Programming Director The Club La MaMa Moves! Curator Pearse Redmond House Manager/Box Office 47 Great Jones Reception Federico Restrepo Puppet Series Producing Director Jack Reynolds Assistant Technical Director Alejandra Rivera Flavia Special Events Coordinator Giacomo Rocchini Carpenter Ozzie Rodriguez Director Of Archive Sam Rudy Media Press Representative Kiku Sakai Resident Artistic Associate Tim Schellenbaum Resident Sound Designer Cathy Shaw House Manager/Box Office Melissa Slattery Accounts Manager Shigeko Suga Archive/Resident Artistic Associate Amy Surratt Producing Associate Mark Tambella Technical Director Anastasios Toulios 47 Great Jones Porter Fleur Voorn La MaMa Kids Associate Mia Yoo Artistic Director Chriz Zaborowski Carpenter
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$5,000-$9,999 (cont.) Jean-Claude van Itallie/ van Itallie Foundation Warren Leight & Karen Hauser The Curtis W. McGraw Foundation Rohini Mulchandani Richard Pinner & Ruth Epstein Teneo Strategy LLC Tides Foundation Scott Wittman $2,500-$4,999 Jody & John Arnhold/Arnhold Foundation Axe-Houghton Foundation FACE Foundation/ Cultural Services of the French Embassy The William & Eva Fox Foundation / TCG The Harkness Foundation for Dance Kenji & Leslie Ima Leslie Kogod & Laurie Goldberger The Puppet Slam Network James Reynolds & Mary Fulham Peter & Brenda Swords TheaterMania.com United Federation of Teachers $1,000-2,499 Anonymous Marina Arsenijevic & Donald Bronn Jon Ritter/The 1848 Foundation The William C. Bullitt Foundation The Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation Maud Dinand Claudia Doring-Baez & Alejandro Baez Elad US Holding, Inc. Catherine Filloux & John Daggett John A. Garraty, Jr. & Elise Frick Buck Henry Charitable Trust Irani Avraham Investments & Trade Co. Ltd. Lucille Lortel Foundation Paul Lynch & Marina Lansdown Margaret Parker Polly Parker & Damon Smith Christina Pennoyer The Pittsburgh Foundation $1,000-2,499 (cont.) Susan Yonaoshi Quimby John Rhodes & Lucy Allen Joan A. Rose Sharon & Steve Schoenberg Moira Smith/M&T Bank Arlene Sorkin Roland Tec Thank you to for your matching gifts: The Coca-Cola Company Doris Duke Charitable Foundation In kind support generously provided by Materials for the Arts NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, 44º North Vodka, Long Trail Brewery, and Heights Chateau. Pat Lynch/Patricia Lynch Associates Inc. and Ann Kayman/New York Grant Company. Legal services generously provided by Goldstein Hall PLLC. Board Of Directors Frank Carucci President Joan Rose Vice President Donald A. Capoccia Treasurer Sonya H. Soutus Secretary Byung Koo Ahn William M. Carey Eugene Chai Jane Friedman Mary Fulham Jeff Haley Sarah Lederman Steven B. Malkenson Richard Pinner Wynn Salisch Scott Wittman Mia Yoo Joel Zwick Advisory Board André De Shields Michael A. Fink Gretchen Green Peter Swords
To receive information regarding upcoming events at La MaMa or to make a donation, please go to lamama.org La MaMa, 74a East 4 th St., New York, NY 10003 If You Like It, Share It We want to hear from YOU! Search facebook.com: La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Follow us on twitter @LAMAMAETC Follow us on Instagram @LAMAMAETC FOR TICKETS Visit lamama.org Or Call 212-352-3101 NOW PLAYING / COMING SOON Conquest of the Universe November 2-19, 2017 Ellen Stewart Theatre Don t Feed the Indians November 2-19, 2017 The Downstairs The Life and Times of Lee Harvey Oswald November 2-19, 2017 First Floor Theatre Coffeehouse Chronicles: Charles Ludlam and the 50th Anniversary of The Ridiculous Theatrical Company Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 3pm Ellen Stewart Theatre Experiments 18: PEARL November 13, 2017 La Galleria La MaMa Kids - Creativity for Kids Connect Through Play November 18, 2017 The Downstairs Perforations Festival November 21-26, 2017 Ellen Stewart Theatre